Thursday, August 1, 2019

Space's Got Talent ~ K-Tales (Jul)

After looking at the stars and planets that evening through his telescope, little Kavish was lying down, just about to go to sleep while listening to a story of Hanuman jumping up to the Sun (thinking it to be a fruit to be eaten).


His eyes had soon shut, but his thoughts continued and soon Kavish was in a rocket heading to space. He was on his way to celebrate the Sun's birthday party with all the other planets.


Traveling very fast through space, Kavish was the first to reach the Sun's party and all the other planets were on their way. Stepping out of the rocket in his astronaut suit and marking his presence with a red flag, Kavish looked behind to see the blue planet 'Earth' that was his home - from space, it looked like a small ball, but was spinning fast to reach in time for the party.


Soon enough, all the planets had made their way to the party. The party had started with some thundering music and lightning effects. Kavish had enjoyed dancing to the tunes, rolling with open arms in the empty space with the planets spinning around him.


After the dancing, it was time for some games - the birthday star Sun had come over and announced that all planets would participate in a game of 'Space's Got Talent', a talent show where each planet would show or talk something special about itself to win the game.


First came Mercury or Budh (in hindi) since it's the closest to the Sun. "Named after the messenger of the Gods, I am very fast and take only 88 days to go around the Sun!", said Mercury. All the planets clapped for Mercury, who'd been first to show his talent.


Next came Venus or Shukra (in hindi). "Named after the Goddess of Love, I am the brightest planet and also called the Evening Star because of my brightness which can be seen from far, far away in space!", said Venus while all the planets looked in surprise.


Kavish's planet Earth was next. It said "Am the only planet on which plants, animals and human beings can live long!" and all the other planets wondered how it would be to have life on them.


Next was the turn of the planet Mars or Mangal (in hindi). "Named after the God of War, I am red in colour and have many seasons, just like Earth!", said Mars.


Little Kavish was happy to know that Mars too had seasons and was thinking if there were any aliens living on it, just like Earth had human beings living on it. He wished he could take some photographs of the aliens to show his friends on Earth.

Jupiter was next in line but he wanted to talk last and so, Saturn or Shani (in hindi) took the next turn.


"I have rings made of ice, dust and rocks. My name comes from the God of Wealth!", said Saturn. Kavish wondered how much fun it would be to hula-hoop with Saturn's big rings around his waist.


The rest planets were now sure that Saturn would win the talent show because none of them had rings like Saturn around themselves, but they were all eager to wait till the end to find out the winner.


Uranus came in next and said, "I am an ice giant, named after the God of Sky and my seasons last 20 years!" Kavish remembered Earth has 4 seasons in the year, but Uranus had 1 season for 20 years.


The planet that's far away from the Sun came next. "Am the coldest planet and blue in colour, named after the God of Sea", said Neptune.

Now, all wanted to hear what Jupiter or Guru ('teacher' in hindi) would say in the end to be able to win the talent show. He had only been listening patiently until now...


"I am the largest of all planets, with stripes and red spots on my body. Named after the king of Gods, I have 67 moons spinning around me!" Just when the rest planets were thinking how they could win against the giant Jupiter, he said, "... but the true winner of this talent show Space's Got Talent is actually none other than the Sun. It is because the Sun is in the center for us all to go around and gives light to us all, that each of us can have our own talents. If the Sun were not to be there, none of us would have any talent to show or talk about!"

All the planets gave a thundering clap to what Jupiter had said. Much like a teacher, Jupiter had taught the rest planets an important lesson - that they should never think too much of themselves because their very presence and a lot of their talent came from the Sun being at their center.

In service to their teacher, all planets agreed that the winner of the talent show ' Space's Got Talent' was the birthday star - SUN!

As the party came to an end, all the planets thanked Jupiter for the lesson and promised that they would never think too much of themselves. Sun too thanked Jupiter for his teaching.


As Kavish said good-bye to all the planets, he understood how lucky he had been to hear the planets talk about their strengths and learn the lesson Jupiter had taught all of them:

"Never to have pride in our talent and always be humble!"

He promised he would always remember and practise it in his life.

Just then his Mumma called out to him, "Kavish.. get up! The Sun is up, it's time to go to school..."

Monday, April 1, 2019

3 Little Wise Monkeys ~ K-Tales (Mar)


3 little monkeys jumping on the bed
1 fell off and his eyes popped out of the head...
So, Mamma called the Doctor,
And the Doctor said...



Watching too much 'dishoom-dishoom' on the TV set,
Violence is not good & you might get wrongly led
Now, close your eyes and get some rest...
No more monkeys jumping on the bed!


2 little monkeys jumping on the bed
1 fell off and his ears nearly jumped off his head...
So, Mamma called the Doctor,
And the Doctor said...


Hearing too much 'gup-shup' in the school break,
Gossip is not good & rumours may be wrongly spread
Now, cover your ears and hear no fake...
No more monkeys jumping on the bed!


1 little monkey jumping on the bed
1 fell off and his mouth turned red...
So, Mamma called the Doctor,
And the Doctor said...


Talking with too much 'gussa' to dad & mum
Speaking angrily is not good & you'll soon be dread,
Now, shut your mouth and practice being calm...
No more monkeys jumping on the bed!



No little monkey jumping on the bed
None fell off and bumped his head...
So, Mamma called the Doctor,
And the Doctor said...


'See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil' is all I said
While doing 'masti', that's the way to grow ahead
If you've understood, you won't hit your head...

Now, put those 3 little wise monkeys back on the bed!


Friday, March 1, 2019

Peppa’s Chinese New Year ~ K-Tales (Feb)


Peppa had been excited about the Chinese New Year even before it had started. She had been waiting eagerly for the 5th of February, 2019 on her calendar to celebrate the new year with her family & friends – this year was going to be the ‘Year of the Pig’ which would bring a lot of good fortune.



With just a few weeks to go for the new year to arrive, Peppa & George had been shopping for new clothes to wear & toys to play with. Daddy pig & Mummy Pig too had been busy getting new clothes stitched to match the kids dresses and had been shopping for sweets to distribute among the guests they would be meeting during the celebrations.


Peppa was most excited about the new year show at school before the holiday break. Madame Gazelle had been taking extra evening classes at school for the kids to learn their musical instruments well for the show – drums & cymbals would require lots of practice to play well during the show. The show did not require the trumpet though, because Emily Elephant would play it live for the show using her trunk as the instrument.



Impressed with his tales of having visited China, Madame Gazelle had invited Mr. Bull to understand how he could help the kids learn the Chinese dragon dance. To show his knowledge of the dance, Mr. Bull had come over to the school with his red dragon mask, willing to train the kids for the show. Seeing this, Madame Gazelle had felt she could trust him with teaching the kids and had asked him to start the practices.

But, during practice classes, the kids had realized that Mr. Bull did not know anything about the dragon dance – he would just wear the dragon mask on his head, balancing it on his horns and bend his knees to shake his legs. 


Peppa, George, Richard Rabbit, Peggi & Pandora Panda learnt to do the dragon dance by practicing themselves after classes - holding the sticks attached to different parts of the dragon, they would wave and move around in a rhythm to make the dragon dance to the beats.




A few days later, when Madame Gazelle had asked the kids to show her a trial run of the dance with Mr. Bull’s dragon mask, the kids had informed her of how Mr. Bull had only been pretending to know the dance.

The kids had been surprised by Mr. Bull’s absence of knowledge about the dance despite his travel to China and informed her how he had been missing their practice classes after they had shown him their own self-learnt & practiced dragon dance, just like the way it’s done in China.

Madame Gazelle then realized that Mr. Bull had only been pretending of his knowledge of the dance and probably he had not even traveled to China ever.


She had been very happy to watch the kids dance the way they had practiced by themselves and had asked them to watch a few videos on the internet to learn the dance even better by themselves.


On Chinese New Year eve, during the morning assembly, Madame Gazelle had instructed all the kids how they would be celebrating the evening in the open garden outside the school with the parents following them closely as they danced & clapped to the dragon dance tunes.


As the dragon dance had begun, the parents had loved the show with the instruments being played and dance being performed in a rhythm. The cool breeze blowing across the garden, with the stars twinkling in the dark sky across it, had a special feel as the ‘Year of the Pig’ had begun.


Just as the new moon had risen in the dark sky, with its light shining on the celebrations in the school garden, Mr. Bull too had joined in behind the kids, trying to copy their dance and balancing the red dragon mask on his horns. As though the start of the new year with the new moon had brought to light the pretentious Mr. Bull out in the open, willing to accept his faults and trying to make up for his mistakes.


Peppa was thankful that the New Year of the Pig had started well, just like the animal symbolised - honestly, truthfully & genuinely. 

That was Peppa's Chinese New Year!

Friday, February 1, 2019

Appu's Trunk ~ K-Tales (Jan)

Prologue:

Kavish turned 3 in December 2018 and loves to read stories. This is also an age he’s picking up new words, languages and more importantly, his thoughts and behavior are being influenced by external cues like the books we read to him and the TV cartoons he watches. Thought this was an apt time to put together a set of stories (1 per month until he turns 4) for him to learn from and remember ~ will be personally very satisfying for me to have penned down 12 bespoke stories in this critical developmental year as he turns from a toddler into a kid.


Appu's Trunk




Appu, the elephant had a long and strong trunk
Trumpet, Trumpet, Trumpet..
It could pull up a chunk!





In a wild fire at the forest
A herd of deer were caught in a trap
With no place to go even for the strongest
Appu’s trunk became a tap


Trumpet, Trumpet, Trumpet..
It pulled up a chunk of water from the river


When the cool water poured over the fire
One shower… two showers… and thrice over again
The flames began to dim and tire
As the deer returned safely to their den





Appu, the elephant had a long and strong trunk
Trumpet, Trumpet, Trumpet..
It could pull up a chunk!





In a grass-land by the mountain slope
A flock of grazing sheep were attacked by a tiger
With no escape, even for the ones with hope
Appu’s trunk became a digger


Trumpet, Trumpet, Trumpet..
It pulled up a chunk of rocks down the mountain


As rocks rolled down the slope onto the grass-land
They blocked the attack, building a wall there and then
The tiger could not break in, though he tried his hand
Untouched, the sheep returned to their pen





Appu, the elephant had a long and strong trunk
Trumpet, Trumpet, Trumpet..
It could pull up a chunk!




In a heavy flood at the river
A pack of wolves were stopped in their tracks
With no way out, even for the wiser
Appu’s trunk became an axe


Trumpet, Trumpet, Trumpet..
It pulled up a chunk of trees from the jungle


As the trees dropped from one river-bank to the other
The bridge that got made helped to save
While the water level kept rising further
The wolves returned happy and dry to their cave





Appu, the elephant had a long and strong trunk
Trumpet, Trumpet, Trumpet..
It could pull up a chunk!





For the strength of his trunk, Appu had no pride
Always ready to serve, he was a true friend and guide

  

Friday, January 11, 2019

3 cities, 10 days, ∞ impressions: Pit Stop 3 ~ Shanghai

Chinese scroll painting, known today in Chinese as guóhuà (meaning "national" or "native painting") is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. The earliest known works were done thousands of years ago, and the idea might have originated with painted banners meant to hang in tombs. Artists use fine brushes and water-based inks or paints, made by hand from pigments (dry materials like minerals that provide color) that the artists ideally grind themselves.

As with calligraphy, the most popular materials on which paintings are made are paper and silk. Each hanging scroll or handscroll is mounted on a wooden roller with a protective silk wrapper around the outside and stored in a special wooden box. When you want to view one, you unroll it by hand while it's flat on a table.

My impressions of Shanghai have been presented below juxtaposed on these thematic section-starter art-scrolls.



The city restaurants I visited for dining had numerous rooms accommodating 10-12 members each, giving vent to the private chats of its members. Whilst having a contemporary & grand look overall, the setting of the rooms & the traditional Sichuan opera Bian Lian dance on display in public areas spoke of the bias towards the cultural roots – after all, walls, demarcating areas of privacy & protecting the native lifestyle from external influence, have never been new in this part of the globe.





Even the local food, be it the concoction of self-picked veggies forming the Ma La Xiang Guo hot-pot or the Chinese mitten / hairy crabs as a local cuisine delicacy or for that matter Huangjiu, the yellow wine served hot with chopped ginger, reflected the significant traditional influence and deep-rooted connect with all that’s indigenous.









Stretching beyond the culinary scene, the customary Chinese signature in a significantly unique style was evident right from the early morning recreation activities by the seniors in public parks characterized by localized Chinese yo-yo diabolo tricks and tai-chi exercises up until the traditional Chinese medicine aisles across drug stores during evening market visits.









Despite such a time-honoured cultural scenario, the horsepower and global advantage China has gained on the manufacturing & trading aspects has been mind-blowing, evident in the seamless plant facilities visited as well as the omnipresent CIIE mascot Jin Bao that welcomed partners from the WTO & UN to its annual autumn venue at the airport.




The virtual trade visits to the home-grown digital technology, e-commerce & high-tech analytics giants Alibaba & Jing Dong, only made the accelerated horsepower of this part of the orient even more accentuated, evidently putting these new-age behemoths in the driver’s seat of setting the tone for most consumer categories.











The authoritarian 'one-child' policy had been at the center of driving the dragon’s recent economic prosperity with a single heir to the resources of not only 2 parents, but also 4 grand-parents. The disposable income was further quadrupled by the housing boom making property ownership even more dear and hence the openness to consumer spending on high-end categories & premium western brands, with China accounting for a 3rd of the global luxury market; evident with popular cafe's like Starbucks opening up reserve bars to add fuel to the aspiration-hungry appetite as well as brands pricing up their offerings & introducing limited edition packs to meet the consumer ambitions for exclusivity. 

Affluent millennial's’ individualistic impulses aptly find expression in what/ how much they buy, given the relatively restrictive expression possible in the otherwise political environment they inhabit.


Seeped in local culture, seeking a unique self-expression through adoption of opulent western labels fueled by recently-found prosperity & inheritance; all this, without an overt abomination of the larger repressive milieu which has enabled this newly-discovered magnificence, was how Shanghai marked its first impression.



Epilogue:

I firmly believe each city carries its own individual fragrance and my attempt has been to appreciate each for its own characteristic aroma – an objective & non-biased olfactory sense only adds to weaving a part of ourselves into the space of the larger society that these varied cities inhabit; enabling, in the process, our personal selves to stretch longer, broader and grow into larger, more inclusive beings.

Personally, the impressions gathered across the 3 cities within the short 10-day duration shall go a long way in shaping my perspectives in an empathetic, inclusive way.

Articles on the 3 cities - Tokyo, Seoul & Shanghai have been captured from various lens with some even comparing and ranking among the three-some (much to my dislike). Links to few more subject-specific articles on the 3 cities as below for reference:


-----------xx Happy Impressions! Thank You! xx----------

Sunday, January 6, 2019

3 cities, 10 days, ∞ impressions: Pit Stop 2 ~ Seoul

K-pop, abbreviation of Korean pop, is a genre of music characterized by a wide variety of audiovisual elements; although K-pop generally indicates "popular music" within South Korea, the term is often used in a narrower sense to describe a modern form of South Korean pop that is influenced by styles and genres from around the world, especially influenced by the West, such as experimental, jazz, gospel, hip hop, Reggae, electronic dance, folk, country, classical on top of its traditional Korean music roots.


The Marc Anthony song ‘You sang to me’ with adapted lyrics is representative of this Korean art-form; presented below to express my impression of Seoul.










Seoul sang to me!


Seoul, I loved for how you made me feel

Given all your fetish with appearances being partly real

'Cause you have the best of expressions to reveal

From street-art sculptures  to festive ornaments that you unveil

Am glad we met, you and me

And you showed me what charm needs to be

Yeah you sang to me

Oh you sang to me





With all the manna you offered me 

The refreshing maesil-cha (plum tea), sizzling bibimbap & pickled kimchi

Yeah you sang to me 

Oh how you sang to me





All the while

You were in front of me

I never realized

I just can't believe

I didn't see it

In your fashion brands or luxury home-grown cosmetic avenues,

I didn't see it


I can't believe it

but I feel it

When you sing to me



Just to think I lived inside of you

I had no idea how Myeongdong or Gangnam could be

Now I get your fondness for all that’s western & to-be

But, with a core that’s Korean and a native history

The words you said just sang to me

And you showed me how I should remember thee

You sang to me

Oh Seoul, you sang to me



-----xx Pit Stop 2~Seoul concludes here, Pit Stop 3~Shanghai in art-scrolls to be shared 5 days from now xx------